Chapter 210
Following Chu Feng’s instructions, Jocelyn carefully picked out all the spirit herbs. The two groups then exchanged the herbs.
Shen Yuxing asked warmly, “Do you need me to help with transportation?”
Delice shook her head. “No, the boss will be here in a bit.”
Shen Yuxing noticed that these strange foreigners seemed to look down on people somewhat, but whenever the word “boss” was mentioned, their expressions grew noticeably more serious. From this, it was clear Chu Feng’s authority among them was very high.
“When will Chu Feng arrive?”
Delice glanced at the rabbit-shaped watch on her wrist. “He said five o’clock—about another hour.”
Shen Yuxing looked at Jocelyn expectantly. “Since we still have time, sir, would you be willing to undergo an ability assessment at our Ability Bureau?”
After Delice explained what an ability assessment was, Jocelyn, intrigued, agreed.
Leaving three people to watch over the supplies, Jocelyn followed Shen Yuxing to take the test.
Jocelyn was fascinated by the Bureau’s testing equipment and had the assessment done over and over.
Normally, the Bureau’s appraisers disliked ability-users who kept requesting repeated tests, but with Jocelyn, they were extremely patient.
“B-level.”
Shen Yuxing looked at the report in surprise. In the country, there were only four plant-element ability-users—two of them in the Bureau. Of those four, two were E-level and two were D-level, still far from B-level. If several of them worked together to accelerate the growth of plants in a field, Jocelyn alone could probably match the output of all four domestic plant users combined.
Just as Jocelyn’s assessment was finished, Chu Feng and Illya arrived.
“Boss, you’re here,” Delice said.
“Yes.” Chu Feng glanced at the report in Jocelyn’s hand. “You had your ability tested?”
Jocelyn nodded. “Yes.”
He had asked for a copy of the report, but found it unreadable. He’d given it to Delice, who also couldn’t make sense of it. Still, it didn’t hurt to have one, so he kept it.
Chu Feng switched to the otherworld language. “They didn’t take blood, right?”
Jocelyn shook his head. “No.” There had been a blood-drawing item, but he hadn’t agreed to it.
Chu Feng secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Good thing—Jocelyn was an elf, after all, not even the same species. If they took blood and found out something unusual, it could be a big problem.
An ability-only test shouldn’t cause any issues.
“Miss Shen, you seem very curious about the abilities of those around me.” Chu Feng cast a cool glance at Shen Yuxing.
She gave an awkward smile. “I just thought, since there was time, a test could help ability-users better understand their own powers.”
Chu Feng smiled faintly. “Then I must thank Miss Shen.” Turning to Delice, he asked, “Have you picked everything out?”
“Plant ability-users are very rare in this country,” Shen Yutong interjected. “I couldn’t help but be interested. Right now, with monsters causing chaos everywhere and medicinal materials in short supply, if this gentleman’s ability is well-used, countless lives could be saved.”
Chu Feng gave a wry smile. “Miss Shen, your ambitions are lofty—you aim to help the whole world. Unfortunately, I’m not so ambitious; I just want to live my own life well.”
Then he looked back to Delice. “So, all picked?”
Delice nodded. “Yes. Jocelyn even earned some jujubes—they’re delicious.”
Chu Feng turned to Jin Jie. “What happened?”
Jin Jie briefly explained the situation.
Chu Feng smirked to himself. No wonder Shen Yuxing had insisted on testing Jocelyn’s ability—it was because she’d just seen a demonstration.
“There were 426 fruits in total. Here are your 211,” Shen Yutong said.
Delice tilted her head. “Isn’t that a miscount?”
Shen Yutong looked embarrassed. “No. Didn’t you eat two already?” She hadn’t wanted it this way, but the Bureau had many people and needed more resources, and the jujubes simply weren’t enough to go around.
Delice: “…”
Chu Feng opened the box of jujubes, tasted a handful, and passed some to Illya.
Illya ate two and his eyes lit up. “Not bad at all!”
Chu Feng nodded. “Yeah, very good.” It was his first time tasting such delicious jujubes. He thought to himself: So it really was worth spending witch stones to cultivate a plant-element user—it’s already paying off.
Shen Yuxing gave him a strange look. The Bureau’s share of the accelerated jujubes had already been sent for testing. From the feedback, they were definitely valuable. The way Chu Feng was eating them so casually seemed like a waste—but since the fruits belonged to him, it was his right to do whatever he wanted with them.
“Let’s go,” Chu Feng said.
Jocelyn nodded and followed Chu Feng out…
Inside the research lab.
Several researchers were analyzing the jujube fruits.
“The fruit’s active components are very high. These jujubes should have effects somewhat similar to the elixirs and potions Chu Feng has provided before.”
“We already had ability-users test them. One jujube can increase energy by about 0.1% to 0.3%, depending on the user’s own constitution, and they can be consumed repeatedly,” one researcher said.
“There are too few of them. If someone could eat several hundred at once, their strength might improve significantly. Unfortunately, we can’t afford to run such a luxury experiment.”
“Miss Shen, Jocelyn’s plant-type ability is really strong! Can we recruit him?”
“A B-rank wood-type ability-user… If we could bring him in, many plants could be saved,” one researcher said excitedly. Lately, the National Bureau of Paranormal Abilities had unearthed quite a few rare herbs from deep in the mountains, but many of them lost potency or died during transportation. The Bureau’s two plant-type ability-users had saved some, but many more were lost — a real pity.
Shen Yutong gave a wry smile. “He’s one of Chu Feng’s people.”
Poaching a plant-type ability-user was basically impossible. Besides, how would they even do it? The other party didn’t understand their language at all, so even if they offered extremely generous conditions in private, they’d still need someone from Chu Feng’s side to translate.
Still, if they came across some particularly rare treasure — like this time’s jujube tree — it might be worth spending some resources to bring her in as an external helper. Shen Yuxing sighed. She had tested Jocelyn’s abilities without permission and seemed to have irritated Chu Feng. Hopefully it wouldn’t affect future cooperation…
Jocelyn’s group came quickly and left just as quickly. Their brief visit to the Bureau stirred up plenty of chatter among its members. A few ability-users had even snapped photos, which quickly spread internally.
“He’s way too beautiful. Can a person even look like that?”
Dong Yu said, “I don’t know! He’s like a work of art. Just now, Huang Lin was staring so hard he tripped — what an embarrassment.”
Dong Yu chuckled. “Not his fault. Remember, that hearing-type ability-user lied earlier, saying Jocelyn was ugly. Turns out he’s an absolute beauty — the contrast is a real shock.”
“I heard that the hearing-type ability-user got beaten up for lying.”
“He’s probably innocent. I bet Chu Feng spread that lie on purpose to mislead people.”
A few female ability-users were gossiping away. When Mu Linglong entered, they waved her over.
“Linglong, you went along earlier when Jocelyn was picking things out, right?”
Mu Linglong nodded. “Yeah.”
“I heard that jujube tree was saved?” Dong Yu asked.
Mu Linglong shook her head. “The tree died, but all the jujubes on it ripened. That wood-type ability-user seemed to recognize the species and said it couldn’t be transplanted — it would die if moved.”
“So that’s how it is?” Tong Yu said.
Qian Duoduo puffed her cheeks. “I heard these jujubes are amazing — replenish qi and blood, beautify the skin, maybe even extend lifespan.”
Mu Linglong looked at her. “Where’d you hear that?”
Qian Duoduo blinked. “From the research institute! I heard a bunch of rich people have gone crazy, calling to buy them. But what can they do? There are only just over 200 jujubes.”
Mu Linglong thought, …Only a little over 200? It sounds like a lot, but once divided up, there’s barely any left. Ability users in the Bureau probably won’t all get one. With my abilities, I might get a share… Those jujubes really do look delicious. I wonder if they boost abilities.
“Jin Jie’s group is lucky. Chu Feng’s side got so many jujubes — maybe they’ll hand some out as benefits,” Qian Duoduo said.
Jiang Yuenin looked doubtful. “Will they?”
Dong Yu thought about it. “Could be! Too bad I didn’t make it through the Crescent Group’s recruitment.”
Male ability-users weren’t any less gossipy than the women.
“A B-rank plant-type ability-user — that’s amazing!”
“Yeah! The strongest plant-type in the country right now is only D-rank, and Chu Feng just casually brings out a B-rank.”
“Chu Feng’s rapid progress probably owes a lot to help from that plant-type.”
“Where did these people even come from? With looks like that, they can’t be nobodies.”
“Most of Chu Feng’s people are off the records — total black households. A lot of folks think they must come from some kind of hidden utopia.”
“So how’s the Bureau going to distribute the jujubes?”
“Probably by contribution points.”
“I hear they’re special, so the contribution cost will be high.”
“Even so, getting one at all would be lucky. Once they’re up for exchange, everyone will fight for them.”
Yuan Bin entered the training room, overhearing all kinds of talk about Jocelyn.
He had always regarded Chu Feng as his rival, but now he suddenly realized — never mind competing with Chu Feng — even Chu Feng’s random companions seemed able to outshine him. The discovery left Yuan Bin feeling very bitter.
